The car culture in Thailand is definitely one of the best in all of Asia.  It doesn’t matter the make or model you will find a significant number of enthusiasts who support their passion and VW is no exception.  The Siam VW Festival has been packing in enthusiasts for well over a decade. However in 2023, the folks running the Talad Rot Fai Srinakarin, or simply the Train Night Market, decided a VW Show was the perfect fit for their funky night market.   Please join Edd Ellison as he does a tremendous job covering the latest edition of Bangkok VW at the Train Market Srinakarin.

Thailand Super Series (TSS) recently unveiled its 2023 schedule with ASEAN’s leading racing category ready for growth and with the clear opportunity of a bright future ahead.

In terms of Super Car GT3, GTM, GT4 and GTC, which this year will run under the banner of “TSS The Super Series by B-Quik”, the 2023 series will kick off this coming weekend at Buriram’s Chang International Circuit (20-23 April) before the iconic Bangsaen Grand Prix returns to the calendar on 27 Jun-2 Jul.

Then it’s off to Sepang in Malaysia on 25-27 Aug, a very welcome return after some years away, before the non-championship Singapore GP support race returns on 15-17 September and finally Chang International Circuit bookends the series by hosting the final round on 15-17 December.

To briefly recap, after steadily building over a decade TSS was forced to slim down to a two-round, four-race series in 2019 and 2020 as the knock-on effects of the Covid-19 pandemic hit Thai motorsport hard, just as they did everywhere else.

However, unlike many series in Asia that cancelled their full year programmes, TSS used agility and flexibility, along with the commitment of its long-term stakeholder teams, to ensure the championships took place, albeit with a very truncated calendar. However, champions were crowned both years and the series provided its usual thrills and spills.

That ensured the series was both kept together and provided with a solid platform to bounce back last year although the tail end effects of the pandemic meant the series order was a little jumbled with the Bangsaen Grand Prix kicking off the season rather than assuming its mid calendar slot.

That street race was a huge plus as the internationally recognized Bangsaen Grand Prix returned after a two-year hiatus having been unable to run due to the large crowds in public spaces that are the signature of this free and open to the public event.

Bangsaen is Thailand’s most important race event and the jewel in the crown of TSS so there was a huge sigh of relief to see it return. Firstly, for the halo it provides the series, and, secondly, that in this day and age when street racing on public roads is very difficult to achieve (see the growing pains of the Prachuap Street Race) a temporary absence can very easily turn into a permanent one.

So, with Bangsaen locked into the calendar again and TSS’s recognition for sterling work as the promoter of this event, another huge opportunity presented itself last year. TSS’s Super Car categories had the opportunity to become a support race for the Singapore Grand Prix.

Clearly the Singapore GP organisers were somewhat short of options due to a perfect storm of the long-term lack of major racing series in South East Asia exasperated by the pandemic with its traditional support race, Porsche Carrera Cup Asia, marooned in China for the 2022 season.

Into the frame came TSS which organized a non-championship round to support the F1 race weekend under the banner ‘TSS The Super Series’. Non championship in part as the race was announced well after the calendar had been officially released but also as the significant costs involved and racecar homologation requirements put it out of reach of many teams.

‘TSS The Super Series’ certainly made its mark with a racecar entry that stretched into the mid-twenties and it was all put together at very short notice while travel restrictions, still in force across much of the region, counted out many obvious entries.

Close, exciting racing featuring a wide variety of GT3 and GTC cars and, significantly, a lack of red flags, allowed the venture to be an unqualified success.

That successful first foray sees the Singapore Grand Prix support race re-join the calendar again this year, once more with non-championship status.

The calendar for 2023 again sees TSS underpinned by trips to the North East’s Chang International Circuit, the nation’s FIA Grade 1 circuit which has hosted MotoGP, World Touring Cars, Japan Super GT and other premier international championships.

For the GT3 level cars and indeed all others it provides a world class racing experience. Teams and drivers always look forward to its thoroughly modern facilities including F1-standard spacious pit garages and wide pitlane apron.

However, what is most significant for 2023 is the return of Sepang to the calendar, a decade after TSS (then known as Super Car Thailand) first made a cross border foray to Malaysia’s premier circuit.

Significant, as this is one of the world’s best loved racetracks, a challenging high speed test that appeals to drivers and teams alike, and a prestigious addition to the calendar alongside tracks such as Chang International Circuit and the Bangsaen Street Circuit.

But also significant as it catapults TSS out of Thailand and into a regional championship as it’s a full points scoring race.

As Sepang is “on the way” to Singapore and they will be held back to back that should also help control logistics and transport costs for teams looking to undertake the double header outside Thailand.

If we include the non championship Singapore round in that list, TSS will in fact visit all four major tracks in the region: Buriram, Sepang, Singapore and Bangsaen.

With SRO’s GT World Challenge Asia primarily focused on Japan this year, with trips to Buriram and Sepang added at either end of the calender, the door is wide open for TSS to make hay with its 2023 calender and create a major ASEAN series, a yawning gap clearly waiting to be filled.

With a significant amount of team bases, GT3 and GT4 level cars as well as pro to gentlemen drivers in the region, a huge opportunity is there for the taking.

This year it will be up to TSS to seize that opportunity. If it can push forward with an aggressive strategy and work very hard, we could see 2023 being a pivot point for the championship as it enters its second decade.

Certainly the organization has the ambition and key personnel to realize that, but it will require more work and further upgrades to international level of the structures, cultures and working practices.

Those are already being rolled out with Australian racing legend Craig Baird is joining the TSS Stewards team and reprising the Driving Standards Observer role he currently undertakes for “V8 Supercars”. Of the three stewards on the panel this year, two will be non-Thai which should provide comfort for the international teams eyeing up the series.

Another plus in the retention of V8 Supercars Race Director James Taylor to continue to perform the same role for TSS.

What TSS offers also is significant cost reduction over other comparable series (excluding the non championship Singapore race which due to its place on the F1 calendar is always going to be an expensive proposition) and an ideal mix of tracks that offer drivers a fantastic and diverse experience.

These are also settings where gentleman drivers can bring family and friends to make the trip to the region more than just about the racing.

With this calendar in place, TSS must look to capitalize and grow its grids. They did a fantastic job to hold the series together during the pandemic, which can be credited to the force of personality of its senior management team as well as the relentless commitment of its core stakeholder teams. That provides a platform to build on.

However, it’s is hard to see much GT3 and GT4 level growth coming domestically, the categories’ main players such as Toyota Gazoo, B-Quik Absolute and AAS Porsche have all been plying their trade in the series for the full decade, only YK Motorsport is a top level recent entry.

So, it’s going to be up to TSS to attract top level Asian teams and this is where the Singapore race a key stepping stone to the future. Notably Viper Niza Racing brought its Aston Martins back with the series to contest the final rounds last year. Triple Eight will join the grid this year as will a fascinating new Filipino operation, C&C Motorsport which will partner with a long-established Thai team, KS Racing.

TSS must ensure it can roadshow itself to the teams from far and wide that will take part this year and seduce them on the merits of their series.

However, with very few of the Thai teams currently contesting TSS able to cater for international drivers that want arrive and drive, that is a clear shortcoming that TSS must address, although that offers an opportunity for major teams in Asia to come in, plug the gaps and create a revenue model.

Or joint ventures. B-Quik Racing’s recent partnership with global powerhouse Absolute Racing swiftly very opened the door to a stream of international drivers coming into the team.

TSS must now make a strong case for the continent’s leading customer focused teams, such as AAI and Craft-Bamboo, both of which raced in Singapore last year, to join the full series.

So, 2023 looks to be an exciting year for TSS and the platform is in place for the series to take the big step from dominant domestic powerhouse to international status. And it all starts this coming weekend in Buriram!

“Malta-based Filipino teen Zachary David will be racing in the F4 Italian championship at Imola next month”

Way back in August, 2021 when the announcement was made that India was about to have a formal ladder for young drivers to climb beginning in 2022 the revamped Indian Racing League barely received mention.  All the fanfare was around the newly created Formula Regional Indian Championship and F4 Indian Championship which were both set to provide their winners valuable FIA Super License points.  However, by the time 2022 ended the Indian Racing League was the only one who found it’s way to the track.

The Indian Racing League started life back in 2019 as the X1 Racing League, the brainchild of racers Aditya Patel and Armaan Ebrahim who aimed to rejuvenate India Motorsport with a unique city based franchise team model.  A concept relatively unheard of in Motorsport, but common in hugely popular sports like cricket in India and many other sports throughout the world.  Their plan involved having 6 to 8 city teams running 2 cars with a total of 5 drivers. The team make up being 5 different categories of drivers: international male, international female, Indian with international experience, an Indian with national experience, and a junior driver.  The would use a lottery style system to “draft” drivers to each team providing an incredibly balanced field.  It was an incredibly ambitious undertaking for the pair racers, but they managed to pull it off at least some what. The vastly scaled down 2019 version of the series featured only two race weekends and teams ending up running with outdated under powered Formula BMW’s.  While the inaugural season was considered a letdown by some, they did succeed in launching the series, crowning their first champion Bangalore Racing Stars and gaining invaluable experience in what worked and what didn’t.  Unfortunately, with the onset of Covid restrictions it was unclear whether or not X1 Racing League would ever be able to act on their lessons learned.

Fast forward to 2022…  Knowing everything they overcame in 2019 to launch the series it should come as no surprise they decided to press forward with the rebranded Indian Racing League even after FRIC and F4 announced they would postpone their launches until 2023.  Along with the rebrand came all new Wolf GB08 Thunder cars capable of delivering the performance and reliability lacking in the original Formula BMW’s.  However, when all three races of the 1st round at the redesigned Hyderabad Street Circuit, which is set to host Formula E in 2023, were suddenly called off before a single checkered flag ever dropped many were left with flashbacks to  X1’s struggles in 2019.  According to statement provided by organizer Racing Promotions Private Limited “There was an incident during practice session with one car, and as a matter of abundant precaution and advice from FMSCI stewards and FMSCI along with the RPPL technical team, we have postponed the races to further investigate the incident.”

With the next round less than a week away at Madras Motor Race Track in Chennai it was unclear whether there would be 2022 season contested or not.  Once again, the Indian Racing League found a way to rise to the challenge and completed all 3 races in Chennai as planned. That’s not to say the weekend was without challenges as the weekend featured a large number of drivers retiring for various reasons.  The first official round ended with a clean sweep by the Hyderabad Blackbirds, but the seeds were being sowed that this was going to be an extremely competitive series.  Malaysian Alister Yoong, who was a very late replacement for Godspeed Kochi, didn’t even arrive in Chennai until Saturday morning and still managed to find the pace to finish 2nd in the Sprint race.  As a further connection between X1 Racing League and the Indian Racing League, Alister is the son of Asia racing legion Alex Yoong who racing in the X1 series in 2019.  Despite joining the series “in progress”, Alister proved to be a force to be reckoned with as he went on to win the final 2 Sprint Races as well as the final Featured Race with teammate Nikhil Bohra.

The 3rd round also contested in Chennai, saw more balanced result with far fewer drivers retiring despite some very adverse weather.  Alister Yoong and India’s Shahan Ali Mohsin racing for Speed Demons Delhi won the respective Sprint Races while Hyderabad Blackbirds team of Neel Jani and Akhil Rabindra who dominated in round 2 captured the Feature Race.  Also of note, Bianca Bustamante (Philippines) fresh off her W Series rookie season, saw her podium finished wiped away due to some unfortunate penalties ultimately finishing 8th and 6th in her respective races.

The eagerly anticipated final round saw action return to the Hyderabad Street Circuit to find out who would claim the driver and team titles.  As now should be expected, the final round wasn’t without it’s problems as weather wiped out the action on Saturday and Sunday saw many of the drivers facing not only a street circuit for the first time, but a wet street circuit.  With series leader Neel Jani out, the hometown Hyderabad Blackbird’s turned to replacement driver Tom Canning, 2019 British GT4 Champion, in their attempt to secure the 2022 Team Championship.  When the Godspeed Kochi team of Yoong and Bohra captured wins in both Sprint Races, the stage was set for the final team battle between Kochi and Hyderabad in the Feature Race.  With Godspeed Kochi’s double win in the Sprint Races, Rabindra and Canning were faced with needing a victory in the final Featured Race to claim the team title. However, the wet track was too much for them to overcome as they spun in the opening corner of the featured race ending their day and chance to bring home the championship.   Godspeed Kochi made it a clean sweep for the weekend after a penalty knocked race winners Chennai Turbo Riders to fourth.

The Goodspeed Kochi team of Yoong / Bohra and Ruhaan Alva / Fabienne Wohlwend captured the outright team championship followed by Hyderabad Blackbirds and Goa Aces.  Despite Yoong and Bohra’s impressive final weekend, the points racked up by Hyderabad’s Rabindra and Jani were too much to over come in the drivers championship battle.  Rabindra’s final weekend performance was just enough to edge out teammate Jani for the championship with Kochi teammates Yoong, Bohra, Alva and Wohlwend finishing 3rd through 6th respectively.

While no official calendar has been released for 2023, given everything they had to overcome in 2019 and 2022, AMN fully expects the journey will continue with the same format in the November / December timeframe with some additional venues and possibly additional teams being added.

For a more detailed look at the series checkout this brilliant video from Overdrive.

New Delhi, Delhi, India

After spending the last two seasons running a China only schedule, Porsche Carrera Cup Asia’s 2023 provisional calendar shows they fully intend on returning to a full Asia schedule.  With stops in Malaysia (twice), Korea, Japan, Thailand, Singapore and China they planning to become the 1st Asia series to fully return to a normal schedule.  It will be interesting to see how some of the young talent who rose up to become Chinese stars over the last couple of years stack up against the influx of international talent this season.

Asia Rising Star Daniel Lu Wenlong, who at just 16 was selected as the 2018 Porsche China Junior, saw his hopes of following Earl Bamber’s foot steps of becoming a full Porsche factory driver delayed by China’s border restrictions.  After finishing 4th in 2019 against a full international field, he bounced back from the cancelled 2020 season by winning the 2021 China only crown beating out Yue Cui in the final race of the season.  After a strong start in 2022 that had him in 2nd place after the first 3 rounds he struggled the rest of the way finishing disappointing 7th overall.  The 2021 runner up, Yue Cui also struggled in the 2nd half of 2022 after not finishing any of the last 4 rounds he ended up 9th overall.

The PCCA 2022 season belonged to Leo Ye Hongli who spent his pre covid career racing in the Blancpain GT World Challenge Asia series.  He finished the 2021 season in brilliant fashion winning two of the final three rounds in Shanghai with a disqualification in the 3rd round keeping him from victory in all three.  Heading into 2022 he was clearly the man to beat and he completely dominated winning the first 6 rounds of the abbreviated 8 round schedule.  Luo Kailuo, whose last competitive racing appears to be the 2018 Asia Formula Renault series where he finished 2nd, beat out Kang Ling, 2019 Asia LeMans LMP2 3rd place finisher, for 2nd place by winning the final 2 rounds.

With the official test days just over 2 months away in Sepang we look for a flurry of team and driver announcements as the field for 2023 sets itself.  Time will tell whether racing against domestic competition was a hinderance for these Chinese drivers.

In this segment of Overdrive, we bring all the latest updates from the Indian Racing League 2022. Take a look. #indianracingleague2022 #hyderabadstreetcircuit #cnbctv18 #businessnews #businessnewstoday #businessnewsinenglish #sharemarkettoday About CNBC-TV18: India’s leading business news channel, CNBC-TV18 offers the most comprehensive coverage of businesses, the economy and the financial markets. Catch all your favourite shows, exclusive videos, big-ticket interviews and more here. You can also connect with CNBC-TV18 News Online Catch the latest news: https://bit.ly/2YbpXBM Follow CNBC-TV18 round the clock: https://www.cnbctv18.com/live-tv/ Stay updated with all the market action: https://www.cnbctv18.com/market/ Follow for Top Views News: https://www.cnbctv18.com/views/ Subscribe to our Channel: https://bit.ly/3nvEcxf Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cnbctv18india/ Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/CNBCTV18News n18oc_business

AMN’s Take:  Several Asian countries have a very dynamic modification culture primarily centered around styling, but they are still lacking on the performance side.  Shops like DynoPro Philippines are looking to change that and C! Magazine is helping to introduce the concept to the Philippine masses.

Macau racer Andy Chang (Champ Motorsport) won his first-ever Macau Grand Prix this year continuing the path laid by Charles Leong (Theodore Blackjack Racing) who won the first two Formula 4 races in Macau.

Chang’s weekend started well, being immediately the fastest driver during the Qualifying sessions and starting from the pole position for Race 1 held on Saturday (November 19) afternoon.

Although Chang’s win makes history as the second Macau racer to win the event and his first, this year’s edition of the F4 race saw potentially an even more relevant moment with the confirmation of a new Asia Rising Star Gerrard Xie (Smart Life Racing) The 16-year-old Hong Kong racer showed tremendous quality and skills, finishing second in the main race and even defeating Chang by 2.084 seconds in Race 1.

Leong, winner of the two previous editions, could not do better than two third places in both races, highlighting also his lack of preparation for this year’s event.

Rumors say that Leong was in reality preparing to take a sit in this year’s Macau GT Cup, a situation that did not confirm at the last minute, making him opt for the F4.

In the main race, starting from the pole position, Xie started better and took the lead but the Safety Car put an end to those efforts almost immediately due to an early crash on Turn 1.

As soon as the Safety Car returned to the pits, Xie continued to widen the gap between himself and Leong (who was second at that time). Eventually, Leong could not keep up with the pace and was passed by Chang who started a pursuit of Xie.

This was until another crash, this time at Lisboa Bend and involving two cars, caused the pack to regroup once again, throwing away Xie’s efforts of building a comfortable gap over Chang.

At the restart, Chang took advantage of his experience and overtook Xie, starting a time-attack-style lap to create a gap from Xie to avoid any potential immediate retaliation.

Eventually, the gaps between first and second and second and third became too big to allow any overtaking, and with a clean driving without any mistakes, Chang took the checkered flag with an almost 6 seconds lead over Xie and 14 seconds over Leong.

After finishing second for two consecutive years, it was time for Chang to break the spell and climb to the top of the podium.

With a win in Race 1 and the second position in Race 2, Xie was the highlight of this edition not only due to the results achieved but for having done it by battling two very experienced Macau specialists. To this adds the fact that he was a rookie in Macau leaving the impression that we will soon be hearing a lot more of this rising new talent.

A last word to the Chinese F4 series, that lacking attractiveness and young blood to battle rising stars like Xie, needs to act fast in pursuing more talent and opportunities for youngsters. The pandemic brought an opportunity for the series to be highlighted in a major event as it is the Macau GP but seems like this opportunity is being missed in the evolution of the series.

With the expected return to “normality” for 2023, the Chinese F4 does need to make a big effort in the upcoming year if wants to continue to be featured in big events like the Macau GP.

Full results of the Macau Formula 4 and all the weekend races can be found here.